"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" a loud voice shouted in your ear as the body attached to it bounced the large bed you were sleeping on jarring you awake.

"For the love of fuck what in god's name do you want?" you snapped as you cracked open one crusted eye. You had left the shower last night when the water had finally gone cold, not caring that you wasted it all. If the guys bitched you would've just reminded them that they had a second bus or that you all were going to be at a hotel in less then a night. Course no one had bothered you until this very moment so you hadn't needed to. Not that you were in any shape to talk to anyone last night. After your shower you had wrapped yourself in polar fleece pajama pants and a giant t-shirt before crawling into bed and falling asleep, so exhausted from your melt down in the shower. You had slept the sleep of the dead until this very morning. Until someone so rudely forgot what you were like in the morning and had decided to wake you up.

"We're at the hotel and all moved in. We have two days off and I was told to come wake you finally, your brother has decided you had slept long enough. Look, I come bearing gifts," Johnny said as he held out a cigarette and a cup of store bought coffee. Starbucks, but anything was better then something one of the guys brewed on the bus. Taking the offered objects with ill grace you lit the cigarette and sat up straighter.

"What bloody fucking time is it?" you asked, cigarette between your lips as your now free hand reached for something resembling an ashtray. A stray empty beer can was what it ended up being.

"Oh it's like eleven, we've been here since eight or so. We're parked in a garage so you can't see the sun," Johnny offered as he sat on the corner of your bed and began picking his nails.

"Mhmm," you muttered back, ashing your cigarette and taking a sip of your coffee.

"All your stuff is in your hotel room except for this duffle of clothes, you're sharing with Jimmy again. And we're planning on doing something as soon as you're decent and well, human," Johnny offered looking at you as he forgot about his fingernails.

"What exactly are we doing?" you asked as you rubbed the crusties out of your eyes.

"I have no clue, your brother and Katie planned something but as always, yours truly is never let in on what's going on. I'm just here delivering a message with about as much knowledge as you now have," Johnny supplied with a shrug, seeming not all that bothered.

"Great. So I guess I'll dress in the snow suit I packed and hoped it's the proper attire for the day," you grumbled crankily.

"Uhhh we're in Florida, I think that a snow suit may be a little inappropriate. And why did you pack one anyways, it's summer time?" Johnny asked, sounding confused.

"I was just being a bitch. Have you not had coffee yet?" you asked, wondering where Johnny's brain had gone to.

"Uh, no actually. Mine's out on the counter," Johnny replied before getting up and leaving your "room", to get his coffee presumably. Sighing you shook your head slightly and got up, placing your beer can ashtray and coffee cup on the weird bump out that served as a bedside table in the room. Stretching out your limbs you hunted down your cell phone to shoot a text at Katie.

"What are we doing today? Anything in particular I should or shouldn't wear? Snow suit inappropriate?" you sent.

Yawning you waited for reply. Which was immediate so you figured Johnny really had been telling the truth and that everyone was waiting on you. Let them.

"Not telling until you're out here. But wear a bathing suit. Why'd you bring a snow suit?" was Katie's response text. Smiling half heartedly you shook your head a little before typing a quick response.

"Be out in 15."

Texting done for the moment you chucked your sidekick onto the bed and took another drag before reaching for your coffee. Chugging about half of your coffee as fast as you could you dumped your finished cigarette into the make shift ashtray can, making a mental note to throw it out later. Drunkenly mistaking it for an actual beer was not only a bad idea but also something that you and the people you knew had learned from experience. Not something fun, especially when you woke with a weird taste in your mouth the next morning.

Shrugging off the last dregs of your tiredness you went about digging through your clothes for something to wear that was still clean, or available in the bus. You came across your black and white checkered string bikini and tossed it onto the bed first since it was the easiest thing to find and grab. Next followed your trusty pair of cut off jean shorts that were so short the pockets stuck out the bottom by at least two inches or so, plain to see below the massively long since frayed edges of the jean. You grabbed a lime green tank top that was so loose and baggy that it could only be worn over layers or to show off a bikini. Items found you dug through your one duffle of clothes that had been left in the bus and hoped what you were looking for was in this bag or you were going to be pissed. Luckily your hand felt the familiar metal and you pulled out what you had been looking for. You tossed your brown leather belt with large death bat belt buckle from your brother onto the bed and grabbed the rest quickly.

In the shower you scrubbed your face before quickly applying only black eyeliner and white eyeshadow, figuring it was appropriate for whatever. You tossed the eyeliner and shadow into a plastic ziplock bag to stick in your purse for emergency touch ups later since you didn't know how long you were going to be out. Slathering a massive layer of sunblock over your skin so as not to damage any of your hundreds of tattoos you paused long enough to run a finger over the blank spot on your forearm. One day you'd fill that spot but you had yet figure out what was going to go there. You planned and placed every piece of ink that graced your body, but nothing as of yet had claimed that one special place. In fact that whole arm was basically empty, which was an odd balance for the rest of your tattooed body. But nothing had spoken for that arm really, you figured it would be something amazing and that it would speak to you when the time was right.

Reminiscing over you brushed out your hair before taking a black bandana folded down to an inch wide band and tying it around your hair, under your bangs and the top layer of your hair. The black bandana with the white eyeshadow made the lime green in your hair pop just that much more, especially since you were wearing your lime green tank top. You stuck two hair ties on your wrist just in case you needed to do something with your hair later. Self ready you grabbed your ziplock bag, sticking your sunblock in it, and went to grab a purse. You grabbed your Bert face canvas bag and stuck whatever you could think you would possibly need before throwing in your clothes as fast as possible. You had told Katie fifteen minutes and that was slowly approaching it's end time. Self ready you slid on your trusty black flip flops and decided to go find Johnny so the two of you could make an appearance. At least you assumed Johnny was still out in the kitchen area of the bus waiting for you, otherwise you didn't know how you were going to find everyone.

"Ready youngin?" you asked as you came to the front of the bus to in fact find Johnny waiting, his coffee long since finished.

"Whatever. Let's go other short shit," Johnny scoffed before heading towards the front of the bus. -xXx-
"Beach party time!!!" Katie yelled enthusiastically when you and Johnny had finally found them hanging out in a bar of the hotel you were staying out.

"Fifteen minutes too," you brother commented as he looked up from his watch.

"Ass hat," you smirked at your brother lovingly before blowing him an exaggerated kiss.

"So uhh Beach party?" you asked Katie and everyone standing around.

"Yup, we have two days off and we're in Florida so why not? We needed some family time and Katie suggested we take a day for the beach and so here we are," you brother stated rather matter of fact like as he put his arm around Katie's shoulders. You caught his little slip and by the color of the blush on Katie's cheeks, which you figured wasn't solely from your brother's embrace, you figured she had caught it as well. Family indeed huh?

"Alright, so how are we doing this?" you asked the group, or well your brother and Katie more to the point. They seemed to be the only two who really knew what was going on.

"There's a section of beach that the manager of the hotel told us about that's fairly secluded, enough so where we can spend the day and not be totally swamped by people. The guys and I are going to go get some things while you and Katie go get the rest. We'll meet up at the beach, which Katie has directions to, in an hour. Capisce?" your brother asked with a raised eyebrow. What? Did you look like you were going to make a scene or something? Family beach day sounded amazing in your book!

"Got it, superb, wonderful, fan-fucking-tastic. Let's get this show on the road. One hour, secret beach for weird voodoo beach day ritual, got it!" you ratted off with a salute at your brother before grabbing Katie's arm and running towards the nearest exit. You didn't know what the two of you were suppose to do in one hours time, but by the looks of Katie's attire and with what your brother had said you figured some serious bathing suit shopping was required before anything else.

"So what are we suppose to get and exactly how long is it really going to take?" you asked Katie once the two of you had escaped the confines of the hotel and were out in the bright hot Florida sun.

"Uhhh, well we're suppose to get beach type game stuff. Sun block too. Water stuff and other things. Your brother gave me one of his credit cards and I have a list I made. I'm guessing you also have something else in mind or you wouldn't have asked how long it was actually going to take," Katie said, a wary look on her face.

"Beautiful. You, me and my brother's credit card are going shopping first," you said evilly, a plan already forming in your head. -xXx-
"Oh my god Katie just come out and let me see this one at least!" you shouted over the doors of the changing room.

You had been at a bathing suit shop on a boardwalk for almost thirty minutes so far and Katie had yet to pick out a bathing suit. Heck, she hadn't even come out to show you any of the dozen you had thrown into her shocked and stunned arms when you had first dragged her in. She had been taken aback at first when you said you were buying her an appropriate bathing suit and with your brothers money no less. You had eventually convinced her it was okay, and that it was partially a gift for him too so he wasn't even going to mind.

"Ugh, fiiine," Katie sighed before pushing open the saloon style doors of the dressing room she had been hiding in.

"Daaamn girl!" you cat called as Katie stepped out in a dove grey bikini that had electric blue designs on it that accented the blue in her hair.

"My brother isn't going to even remember that he sent you out with me with his credit card unsupervised when he sees you in this! Not that your black tankini with white palm tree on it wasn't cute or anything! I own like six tankini sets! But today is a special day and called for a special swim suit!" you said, a giant shit eating grin plastered across your face as you nodded emphatically at Katie. This bathing suit really did look stunning on her. You took a mental note to look into a grey bathing suit for yourself while you were here shopping, you did indeed have your brother's card. And once he saw what Katie looked like you didn't think he's mind or even notice the few extra purchases anyways.

"Are you sure?" Katie asked as she looked down at herself, trying to see her backside instead of using the mirrors that were there just for that purpose.

"Positive! Now, what exactly else were we suppose to buy? Because we have like thirty minutes left before my brother sends out the goon squad or half the Florida police to find us," you offered with a wicked grin.

"Kales Mae!" Katie squeaked before mad dashing back into the changing room at lightning speed.

"Just rip the tag off and hand it to me with Matt's card. I'll go pay for your suit while you put your other things back on," you said as you stuck your hand over the top of the changing room doors.

"Thank you!" Katie called out as she handed you the tag to her suit and Matt's credit card.

"No problem," you said with a wicked grin she couldn't see, a few grey bathing suits that were calling your name just so happened to be in-between you and the cash register.

Notes

Yay for family beach day!
And day of doing nothing in the sun at the ocean is always a good cure for the crankies!!!